3,000 Mile Oil Change Myth

[Patrol 65]

I recently found this article which confirms my conclusion on the improvement in oil technology.

Stop Changing Your Oil! - Edmunds.com

[Tom N]

This article deals with automobiles, not 2500HD trucks pulling 15,000# trailers and 30,000# motorhomes, so IMHO it can be misleading in the Winnebago Owners forum.

My Winnebago manual and Workhorse manual states the GM gas engine used in a Winnebago motorhome is a severe service applications. The same criteria applies to large pickup trucks towing a 15,000# trailer.

Severe service, as my manual states, requires 3000 mi oil changes.

-Tom
retired chemist with some oil analysis experience

[RustyJC]

Not that I'm advocating 3,000 mile oil change intervals for everyone, but one should be aware that many recent diesel engines that use large amounts of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) along with NOx adsorbers and particulate filters (DPFs) that require regeneration cycles have much shorter oil change intervals than non-emission-controlled diesels. In the absolute worst case (extended unloaded stop-and-go driving with lots of engine starts and shutdowns), the lube oil condition monitor in the Ram trucks powered by the Cummins 6.7L diesel may call for an oil change in as little as 2,700 miles - the maximum allowable oil change interval is 7,500 miles. This is because of fuel dilution and sooting of the lube oil. Therefore, I would caution a reader about taking one article that was written about automotive gasoline engines and applying it across the board to all engine types and applications.

By the way, even the article you cited states:

If your car has an oil life monitoring system, don't try to second-guess it. Understand how it works and follow its guidelines.

Rusty

[Hipshot]

I go by the manufacturers service recomendations. Oil is cheep compared to engines.

[OldChief7155]

Nothing gets worked harder, driven faster, left idling with a/c running or generally abused by different drivers than police cars.

We changed oil in our CHP cars every 5,000 miles. I do the same in my gasoline powered vehicles with no problems. My Wrangler just turned 175,000 miles and still runs great.

[Patrol 65]

Originally Posted by Tom N

This article deals with automobiles, not 2500HD trucks pulling 15,000# trailers and 30,000# motorhomes, so IMHO it can be misleading in the Winnebago Owners forum.

My Winnebago manual and Workhorse manual states the GM gas engine used in a Winnebago motorhome is a severe service applications. The same criteria applies to large pickup trucks towing a 15,000# trailer.

Severe service, as my manual states, requires 3000 mi oil changes.

-Tom
retired chemist with some oil analysis experience

Tom,
If you read the article, you would have read that your counter counts miles and have nothing to do with the quality of your oil. Yes, in the old days, oil did not really go the distance, but as a chemist, you should know that you guys are always improving technology so your comment about HD 2500 engines is a little bit far off. The article was probably written for automobiles but an engine is an engine. I have a Silverado 1500 with almost 300,000 miles so that is why I said that it confirms my conclusion that oil quality has improved. I also have a motorcycle with almost 140,000 miles which at one time in the past, motorcycles didn't last past 25,000 miles. A motorcycle engine endures more stress than any truck or motorhome engine. As you should know, HD engines are built to a higher standard than regular engines so they were built to tolerate the environment that you described. Everyone here are not driving diesel engines so this article really pertains to gas engine Winnebagoes like mine. This was posted to relieve some of the worries that some may have of doing once a year oil changes on gas powered motorhomes.

[Davel]

I agree with the longer oil change periods. I use Mobile1 in everything and go 5k on the motor home and 7.5k on the 03 Malibu without any problems. I send in a sample every year or so and have gotten favorable readings except one. I went 10k on the Malibu and the report showed a little more wear than the others had so I will be more careful on watching the odometer. Our '95 Pontiac Trans Sport with a 3.8 went over 300k using that schedule with no problems at all. With the improvements in oil and machining it's a waste of valuable oil to change more often than needed. GM dealers are suggesting going by the monitor for changes and they are backing the warranty.

See you down the road,
Dave

[vsheetz]

• DW's Nissan Altima - 7500 miles
• Jeep TJ - annually
• Ford F150 - annually
• MH - annually / 3000 miles, usage depending
• Lawn Tractor - annually

Mobile 1 Synthetic in all.

[MRBB]

Originally Posted by Patrol 65

Tom,
I also have a motorcycle with almost 140,000 miles which at one time in the past, motorcycles didn't last past 25,000 miles. A motorcycle engine endures more stress than any truck or motorhome engine.

I have a 1951 HD Panhead that has over 300,000 miles on it. Of course it leaks so much oil you never have to do an oil change, it just changes itself. With a Harley if it's not leaking oil it's out of oil...

On my F-350 diesel I change it every 5k which is cheap insurance.

[Sky_Boss]

My new Honda CRV handles oil change intervals. Instead of specific miles it says to do it annually or when it tells you to. What it does is keep track of engine parameters of RPM, oil temps, water temps and such. It crunches numbers and uses the data to determine the level of stress on the oil system. From that it determines how much "life" is in the oil.

[Zoafan]

With my Mini the car tells you when you need to change your oil depending on how hard you drive it. I had the car since 2005 and put 92k miles on it and only did 3 oil changes when I sold it in 2012.

[JohnBoyToo]

Not a MH deezle,
but our 2012 ford 6.7 diesel has 16k miles on it and has only had one oil change @ 7600 miles or so...

they put opacity sensors in the new diesels that tell you when to change the oil....
so I trust what the computer says - if it fails, it's ford's computer and ford's engine and ford's warranty

[Midniteoyl]

Originally Posted by OldChief7155

Nothing gets worked harder, driven faster, left idling with a/c running or generally abused by different drivers than police cars.

We changed oil in our CHP cars every 5,000 miles. I do the same in my gasoline powered vehicles with no problems. My Wrangler just turned 175,000 miles and still runs great.

Every 6 months, Oct and April, regardless. Ends up being between 5-7000k miles.

[Texas Troope]

I will go along with OldChief, as I am a retired Texas State Trooper. We USED TO change oil every 3,000 in pursuit vehicles, but Texas DPS switched to using Amsoil synthetic and went to 20,000 mile intervals on oil changes with a filter change at 10,000 miles. Seemed extreme to me at first, but as OldChief stated - nothing gets driven harder in more different weather from 115 degree duststorms to -15 degree snowstorms, constant running/idling (sometimes for days at a time during disaster responses) than a State Trooper's car, and we never had any problems. Vehicles were typically traded in at around 100,000 miles and still running great, (even if the rest of the car was worn out). Personally, I now just go by my owners manual recommendations.

[Alan17]

I'm lucky to put 3000 miles on my Moho in a year and would not sweet going a bit over 3000 if I did. With that said, I always change out my oil and filter annually.

[bachler]

I must share my experiance;;; After 73 years;; My neighbor a good friend of mine. Done maintenance on a over the road truck line.. There schedule was Every 50,000 miles change the sock filter.. They had engines on the road with over 400,000 miles on them. Now how can one dissagree with the oil change .. They NEVER did. Another thing. I spent a lot of my years employed in a garage; . Our change schedule was 2500 miles. I was doing that on our cat. Diesel. Talked to the factory ; (cat) I was told the more/longer oil is used the more silicone builds up and that is good; And was told anything less then 15000 miles (evrything working as it should) Is more damaging to the system and You are throwing money away;;. If oil/engine is run at its Propper opperating temp The moisture/acids are removed . And the Lube/oild is healthy; In our company we made oilcoolers and done Extensive testing, on oils and there properties; There are a lot of rumers about oi,l and change schedules. as many as there are people in the conversation If you are happy with a 1500.mile sch. Then do it If you think 30,000 Miles is good then do it. Life is good . I do not post to make friends/agree/dissegree/ .. Only the specks that cost us years Of research and a lot of money;;

[Mr_D]

Both our Hondas have oil change monitors, I go by that.
In the MH it's once a year, although this last time I had an oil analysis run, it came back fine and said to run it another 5,000 miles and check it again. So I will.
My wifes car gets driven a lot, usually about 3 miles to the freeway, then 25 miles on the freeway, then a couple miles at lower speeds. My van gets driven 6.7 miles to work and back 4 days a week. She gets more miles out of an oil change due to high mileage and I get more time due to low mileage. Still go by the onboard computer.

[Tony Lee]

I would question any assertion that all motorhomes are severe service application anyway. Generally not pulling a huge load, not normally idled for long periods, generally not start-stop driving, generally only driven on sealed roads and in good weather. Pretty cushy life overall.

I've also noticed some large differences between recommended service intervals from engine manufacturer to chassis builder to motorhome builder and it seems as if the last two are just adding a CYA factor to what the engine manufacturer recommends

[Wayne M]

For the newer, I have a 2008, Cummins (diesel) engines it is 15,000 miles or 1 year, which ever comes first. Those running the RAM line of pickups may want to check with Cummins.

For the ISB: Maintenance Schedule

For the ISC: ISC Maintenance Schedule

Check with Cummins.

[ChooChooMan7]

Why not get an oil analysis done? I have started doing that. I found that after 5k miles on my Jeep Diesel, I still had plenty of life left in the oil.

Right now, I am comparing 2 oils at 5k mi to see which one has more active ingredients. After tis test, I am thinking of possibly extending my oil changes out a bit.